Remembering Colin
by Fooruman the Great
Summary: Dennis sits by the lake. This has spoilers from Chamber of Secrets, HalfBlood Prince and Deathly Hallows.


DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters, or locations. Harry Potter is copyrighted © J. K Rowling, Warner Brothers, and possibly Bloomsbury and/or Scholastic. All rights reserved.

Dennis sat by the edge of the lake. Occasionally, the giant squid would surface, or wave a tentacle in the air. He would throw a rock at it. He didn't like it anymore. It reminded him too much of Colin.

He remembered his first year. Eager, just like Colin had been, he had jumped into the boat, almost flipping it upside-down with his enthusiasm, but Hagrid had made sure it didn't happen. Then, when he stood up to get a better view of the castle, gleaming with bright lights, he had fallen into the lake. The giant squid had grabbed him with its tentacles, and tossed him back out, almost throwing him into Natalie McDonald. Colin had fancied her.

He picked up a sharp rock; ready to throw it if the giant squid came up again. After a few minutes, he looked at the tree behind him. With a twinge, he saw the message Colin had carved in there during his first year: "Harry Potter Rocks! -CC". The giant squid was up again, and Colin threw the rock at it. It hit it squarely in the eye, and it submerged angrily.

Colin had once told Dennis how he thought the giant squid was Dumbledore's animagus. Colin had liked Dumbledore. Dennis hadn't talked to him as much as Colin had (Colin often went to Dumbledore for advice), but Dennis had understood Colin's depression over Dumbledore's death.

"Hi, Dennis." said a voice to his right. Dennis whipped around, his hand reaching to his wand pocket. He relaxed, though, seeing it was only Parvati Patil. "Hi, Parvati." he said, quietly.

"Are you still sad about Colin?" she asked, softly. Dennis nodded, hoping it would make her go away. He didn't want to talk at all. This was the saddest he had ever been since his mother died, when he was only 9. Colin had been at Hogwarts then. He was going to come back home for the funeral, but he had been petrified the day before he was going to leave.

"I know how you feel." said Parvati, suddenly. Dennis hadn't been expecting her to speak again – and he wasn't prepared for something like that. He hardly even knew Parvati, anyway – she was three years ahead of him, and he had only talked to her occasionally, in the Gryffindor dormitory, and in the hallways.

"I lost someone in the battle, too," she continued. "I lost my best friend. Lavender Brown." A tear dripped from her eye, she swallowed and went on. "She was in the hospital wing, and I hoped she would survive, but she died last night. The werewolf – Greyback – killed her."

"I'm..sorry to hear that." said Dennis, not meaning it as much as he tried to.

"May I sit down?" asked Parvati. Dennis shrugged, and muttered something about supposing so. She sat down, slowly, and leaned against the tree, looking at him.

The giant squid went up again. Dennis looked around for a rock, but couldn't find one; so he tore a branch off the tree instead and threw it. It missed the giant squid by a metre, but it went back underwater anyway.

"Why don't you like it?" Parvati questioned.

Dennis gulped. There was a lump in his throat now, and he wasn't sure if he could talk without sounding stupid. He wasn't sure if he wanted to talk either. But Parvati was obviously trying very hard not to hurt his feelings, and he figured he might as well not hurt hers. "It..in my first year, I fell into the water while on the boat to Hogwarts. It tossed me back into the boat. Colin told me what had done it. Now I..it reminds me of him." Parvati gave a quiet "ah", and was silent for a few minutes.

"He had his camera with him when he died." said Dennis suddenly. "He took his last photo the moment before the killing curse hit him. I got the film developed. He was killed by a death eater."

Parvati sniffed, and Dennis could tell that she was crying without even looking at her. "I..Colin was my friend, too. We met after I went with Harry to the Yule Ball. He wanted to know about Harry – if I was dating him, what I learned about him.." She trailed off. Dennis could tell from her voice that she clearly had been close to Colin. He felt somewhat happy – knowing that there was at least someone left whom he could talk to.

Parvati inched a bit closer to him, and looked at him. Dennis looked back at her: the two made eye contact; and she looked away, blushing. The giant squid surfaced yet again – Dennis reached for a rock, having made sure to find one in advance this time, and she reached for it too, presumably intending to help him drive the giant squid away. Their hands met, and she quickly withdrew hers, her cheeks turning as red as a Weasley's hair. Taking the window of time of not being attacked, the giant squid quickly swam away to a spot in the lake where it could not be reached by projectiles, and floated, tanning its tentacles in the setting sun.

Dennis looked at the giant squid, annoyed, now that he no longer had something to take his anger out on. He thought of perhaps cutting the tree with one of the sharp rocks, but as he turned to look at it, his eyes stopped at Parvati.

He had never really bothered to look at her much before. She had been his partner in a meeting of Dumbledore's Army once, and she had stunned him on her second try.

She had just stunned him on her first try, this time. Her beauty was awe-inspiring. From her black hair, tied into a neat ponytail, to her brown eyes, to her black mourning clothes. Dennis looked away. _No. _He couldn't fall in love two days after Colin's death. He quickly averted his eyes to look back at the giant squid. Parvati inched a tiny bit closer to him.

The next few minutes were awkward. Parvati routinely moved a bit closer to where he was sitting, and Dennis routinely looked at her. Both blushed and turned away if the other saw them. Finally, Parvati spoke.

"I liked Colin," she said. "But I think I like you more."

Dennis turned towards her, and inched closer himself, so that their knees were touching. "I think I like you too." he said, in a tone that he hoped did not sound as giddy as he felt. Parvati leaned towards him, and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Dennis leaned towards her, and met her lips with his own.


End file.
